Congress must pass funding, or appropriations bills, to pay for discretionary spending of the federal government. The last time they attempted to do this, they could not get it done in time via bipartisan support before the deadline of funding expiring, so the government had a “shutdown.”

It was the longest in American history. They eventually passed a Continuing Resolution, or “CR,” to extend funding at the same levels as the prior CR, which was passed because they failed to pass the last funding package at the end of 2024. If you recall, the bill was ready to be passed, but then Elon Musk’s tweet put the kibosh on it.

Let’s see if the appropriations bills make it to a vote by the president by January 30th and we avoid another government shutdown.

Thinking of a new mattress? Check out Saatva, who supports my work through an affiliate partnership they offer only to certain healthcare providers, at no cost to you. In fact, you save hundreds on a mattress by using my link (online) or my name (in the showroom!).

As a doctor of physical therapy, I’m acutely aware of how your choice of mattress impacts your health. This mattress is high-value; a premium mattress at a reasonable price.

My boyfriend and I have the Saatva Latex Hybrid king size mattress. Its sleep feel is identical to the best hotel mattress I’ve ever slept in. 👇 Please reply to this email if you want any more information about Saatva and I’m happy to chat with you.

Your clinical experience means less than the story you can tell about it.

And you can tell the story well if you know what non-clinical hiring managers are looking for. You must tell them what you are prepared to do successfully. They don’t want to guess, and you don’t want them to have to guess.

It doesn’t matter if you are the best clinician you know. That’s not relevant.

But don’t worry, you can do this! It’s all about preparation.

Clinicians have superpowers they bring to non-clinical roles that non-clinicians just don’t have and will never have.

You understand healthcare from the inside.

You influence behavior change every day.

You make the complex simple, reading your audience to align communication with their level of health literacy.

You identify system inefficiencies and create solutions that improve efficiency and workflows

You navigate difficult conversations daily, including giving unwelcome news.

You partner with clients on achievable and stretch goals and manage expectations.

You see problems that need fixing but fixing them means fundamentally changing the business model.

You identify risks and then think in terms of root causes, variation, and system reliability to improve outcomes and reduce risks to safety.

You can know how decisions made by leadership impact patient and clinician satisfaction, and how incentives drive behavior. This perspective will help organizations make smarter, more human‑centered strategic decisions.

Remember: You must invest in the superpower you identified above (and others you identify!). Tell a great story by remembering the plot points.

Next step: Use the “capture system” I describe in the next section to start a list of “business wins.” Every time you influence a behavior change or fix an inefficiency, log it. Do it right away while you have momentum going. By the time you are ready for your career move, your narrative will already be written.

Set up a simple “capture” system that works on your phone. What you capture is your proverbial inbox, much of it on its way to becoming part of your “second brain.”

Capture what?

Ideas, notes, to-dos, reminders, due dates, and anything that resonates along with a way to jot down “why.”

Here’s what’s working for me lately:

When I click the above card in mymind, here’s what I see, including an AI summary, auto-tags, and the quick note I attached when I saved it using the iPhone “share to” app function. You can even scroll the entire pdf right inside the card itself! There’s also a chrome extension to save anything while working on your desktop.

Note: these are NOT mymind affiliate links. They are just for reference if you want to check the app out.

Here’s a quick video from mymind showing some of their filtering magic with time-based search, which simplifies my review process:

Thank you for being part of this community. If you enjoyed the newsletter, please share it with a friend!

All the best,

Dana Prommel Strauss, PT, DPT